County consultant urges move to impervious-area stormwater fee to simplify billing

Beaufort County’s stormwater utility manager and consultant told the Public Facilities Committee on June 15 that the county’s current fee structure and billing database are complex, labor-intensive and difficult for residents to understand. Taylor, the county stormwater manager, said the utility was established in 2001 and the last comprehensive fee study was completed in 2015; the consultant Howell Clarkson said the database contains outdated formulas and requires annual manual adjustments.

Clarkson laid out preliminary data showing disparities under the current system: "single-family residential comprises about 52% of the total impervious area and they're paying about 52% of the revenue," he said, while multifamily properties account for roughly 1.4% of impervious area but nearly 8% of revenue, and nonresidential uses hold about 47% of impervious area but pay about 40% of revenue. He recommended moving toward a flat impervious-area basis (a per-1,000-square-feet rate) as the most fair and defensible option and said the county has the data to implement it.

The consultant also gave high-level financial context: a preliminary estimate places the county-owned stormwater infrastructure inventory at about $300,000,000 in replacement value, and he recommended annual maintenance spending in the range of 1%–2% of replacement value. Committee members pressed on timeline and governance; Clarkson said data-gathering is underway, a more detailed package will be provided to the stormwater utility board before any formal votes, and staff aims to begin the formal review process by September so implementation decisions can align with future tax-run schedules.

The committee did not take an immediate action to change rates; staff will return with a program overview, credit and appeals recommendations, cash-flow analysis and proposed rate structures for committee and board review.